


When I’m With Him

by okumuralucard



Category: SK8 the Infinity (Anime)
Genre: Angst, Childhood Friends, Denial, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Gay, Kaoru has anxiety (canon), Kinda, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, idk how to tag bye, kojiro my beloved ❤️
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-18
Updated: 2021-02-18
Packaged: 2021-03-13 10:13:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,966
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29524845
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/okumuralucard/pseuds/okumuralucard
Summary: At nine years old Kaoru doesn’t know what a real friendship looks like, or if one even exists.Either shielding himself in the sparse comforts of his home or distracting himself with the thrill of the skatepark, he keeps his emotions to himself and waters down his personality to fit the wants of others. So much so that he thinks  he’s permanently buried away that side of himself, locked it away in a box and lost the key.Until he meets Kojiro – who unravels him like a string without even trying – and their hesitant friendship blossoms into a bond that neither of them could have expected.
Relationships: Nanjo Kojiro | Joe/Sakurayashiki Kaoru | Cherry Blossom
Comments: 5
Kudos: 36





	1. First Meetings

Kaoru was nine when his parents decided that homeschooling wasn't the best course of action for him. Their timid little boy, as they called him, was becoming even more timid - barely talking to anyone and tapping away at his electronics for hours on end. His test scores were perfect, his grammar was impeccable for his age and his handwriting was beautiful – he could already use a calligraphy brush. But he was lonely, either sat around the house by himself or out skating alone in the local park. 

They had sat him down one day and told him simply, "You're going to public school starting next month, Kaoru." He'd nodded silently, and the two of them had ignored the way his little hands had balled into fists on his knees. 

He had always been a difficult child to reach, his parents thought – always bowing his head and mumbling under a curtain of pink hair so that they couldn't understand him. When Kaoru used to talk to them regularly he was always sharp and quite rude in their opinions, and they had constantly reminded him. He’d quickly internalised their comments, but not in the way they would have liked.

Instead of just 'calming down' their son had completely shut off. His tenth birthday was coming up in a month or so, and for the past year his parents had never heard him mutter more than a few sentences a day.

They lived in a small village (one school, one park, a couple convenience stores scattered around) where there more elderly people than usual, and the few children on their street and Kaoru had kept their distance. Public school was a chance for him to brush up on his communication skills and gain some confidence. Hopefully. 

— 

On the first day of school Kaoru's heart wouldn't stop hammering. He shakily climbed out of bed and pulled on his new uniform, smoothing his hands over the crisp black blazer until they burned. _I’ll be okay_ , he reminded himself gently, taking an exaggerated deep breath. _I'll be okay_. 

He glanced around his room. It was still dark outside, and the shadows loomed around the walls more tauntingly than they usually did. He shuddered before taking one last deep breath and walking downstairs. The house was silent, his parents had left the morning before with the promise that they would be back in time to drop him off.

They weren't, but it was okay. Kaoru had already stolen some money from their room and memorised the quickest routes to school the night before; he had learned long ago not to count on his parents promises.

“I'm off now!" He shouted to the empty house before locking the door and running down the path in their front garden and onto the street, clutching his skateboard to his chest. He had been searching around the house one day two years ago and found it stacked behind a load of boxes, and once he had figured out how to use it the two of them were inseparable.

It was bright pink, much to his delight rather than his despair (it matched his hair and made him look cool, he had decided), and his parents had actually encouraged him to use it. He still couldn't do any tricks or anything like that, but he liked to consider himself a prodigy since he'd been able to skate in a straight line all by himself the first time he'd ever stepped on the skateboard.

By now he'd reached the school gates, his legs automatically directing him the right way for the whole journey. He was still thinking about his skateboard so deeply that he didn't even notice he was about to walk into someone until it was too late.

He barrelled straight into them, and before he could even realise what had happened something collided with him and he was shoved to the floor with such intensity that he let out a shriek. A head loomed over him, covering the sun that had been shining onto his face.

He stared up, bewildered. His eyes met with a pair of peculiar brown ones. "Oh." The boy said, still peering down at him. "Are you okay?"

Kaoru stared up at him for another moment before rolling over and standing up sharply. He glared at him. "No you bitch, you knocked me over!" He was slightly proud of himself when the other boy's eyes widened considerably. He had learned that word a few weeks ago and had been dying to try it out on someone. "You can't just push people like that!"

The boy tilted his head, green hair falling to the side. Then he suddenly started to laugh, looking at Kaoru as if he was stupid. Kaoru felt himself go red.

“Firstly, you're the one that ran into me. And I didn't push you okay, my bag did." The boy turned around and pointed a thumb at the large black bag that was slung over his shoulder. "It has my skateboard stuff in it."

Kaoru opened his mouth then shut it again. Another skateboarder? The only other time he'd seen a person his age with a skateboard was on YouTube. He glanced at his own skateboard that lay abandoned on the floor. Before he could protest the boy reached down and retrieved it for him, holding it out.

"You skate too, huh."

Kaoru took it from him, scowling. "No, I carry this around for decoration. Of course I do. Are you-"

"Wow, you're so snappy." The boy cut him off, shaking his head with a wry smile. "Are you new?"

Kaoru fidgeted with the wheels of his board. The voice in his head screamed at him to _tone it down_ , and he could feel his parents disappointment hanging around him like a weighted blanket. He dropped the facade. "Yeah."

"Ahhhh. Well, drop the hard man act. It'll only get you enemies."

"..Okay."

The boy studied him for a long time, too long, until Kaoru felt sweat bead on the back of his neck. Is this what other children did? He wouldn't last the day. Then the bell rang, and the boy looked away before clearing his throat.

"And don't... walk into people." He said simply, before turning around and crossing the remaining stretch of playground before he entered the school doors. Kaoru stood there for a minute, blinking at the place the boy had stood before he realised he'd be late for class, and he sighed before sprinting towards the doors.

–

That first school week was unevenful and extraordinary long, but Kaoru survived it. Barely. He had kept quiet and gotten on with the work (he had already covered everything at home anyway), and clamped his mouth shut when he felt like he would say something wrong. The green haired boy (Nanjo Kojiro, as he had learned from register) sat just a few seats to the left of him most days. Kaoru could feel him glancing at the side of his head the entire week, and he had bit his nails raw trying not to squirm.

At the end of the day he always skated straight to the skatepark. He was glad to be out of that awkward classroom, and the cool spring air that bit at his skin and streamed through his hair made him feel so light, so free. It always brightened his mood. His parents returned the Saturday after his first week at school, bearing lots of gifts and apologies. They always did, and Kaoru always accepted them with a tight smile.

The skatepark was Kaoru's means of escape from the things he didn't want to do, or to think about. He'd been going there ever since his family had moved to the area and the fact that it was always deserted only added to the appeal. Nobody was there for him to make a fool of himself in front of. (Which he did. Regularly. The fact that he had owned the skateboard for two years but was still unable to do any tricks was an annoyance he intended to fix as soon as possible).

However, as much as he wished it would, this didn't last for much longer. Because now anytime Kaoru went to the skatepark after school Kojiro was there, whether he was attempting to do a trick or just skating around in constant circles.

Turns out Kojiro was relatively new to the area, only having moved there a few weeks ago. Kaoru barely believed it. The way Kojiro walked around school made it seem like he had been there his whole life, not just a few days more than Kaoru.

The first time Kaoru saw him there he turned around and fled back home. It would be too awkward, he told himself as he ran across the road. They hadn't even talked after that first encounter, though Kaoru could always feel Kojiro's eyes on his face.

After two days Kaoru tried again. And there Kojiro was. Again. But Kaoru couldn't keep himself cooped up forever, no matter how much he wanted to. Skating was one of the only things that made him feel his age, that took the stress he didn't understand why he had from him. He often stared at his reflection and wondered why he looked so old. He had the air of a fourteen year old when he hadn't even reached his tenth birthday yet. Maybe it was the glasses.

He tried to avoid Kojiro at first, using the outskirts of the park and only inching closer in when Kojiro finally left – but as the days went on it got more and more difficult not to watch him and his attempts up close.

He would always fall to the floor, skateboard whizzing up into the air before hitting the floor with a sharp crack. But then he would always stand up and laugh to himself too, before trying again. One evening Kaoru watched as Kojiro tried to use a ramp, his eyes narrow and focused. He lost his balance as quickly as he had gained it and fell hard, landing with a jolt and scraping the skin from his elbows. Kojiro had laid on the floor for a few seconds in complete silence before bursting into tears.

Seeing Kojiro upset was very odd. He smiled at every little thing in class, he smiled so much that everytime he would turn to ask someone for a pencil or for answers to a question Kaoru would be surprised he didn't have those deep lines around his mouth. Not that Kaoru had been looking at his mouth. Obviously.

Kaoru ignored all of the alarm bells ringing in his brain and ran to him, dropping his skateboard on the way and leaning forward. "Are... are you okay?" Kaoru asked cautiously, frowning. Kojiro stared down at the floor, legs crossed as if he was sulking. He was clutching his arms with both hands, and Kaoru gasped as he saw blood trickle from the loose holds.

"Hey," Kaoru asked, kneeling down. Kojiro brought one of his hands up to wipe at his eyes before he realised it was covered in his own blood, and he burst into tears again. Kaoru's mouth felt dry. He'd never had to deal with someone crying before.

"I wanna help you. Stand up, please." Kojiro opened one of his eyes and looked at Kaoru, his face blotchy and flushed. Now that Kaoru was closer to him he noticed that his eyes weren't actually just brown– but a warm honey red colour. He had those long boyish lashes that were now wet with tears, his eyes sloping downwards in a way that made him look innocently charming. He was... pretty. Even with snot running from his nose.

After a few more seconds Kojiro obliged and slowly stood up. Kaoru followed suit and put some distance between them - he hadn't realised how close they were.

They stood in an awkward silence, Kojiro staring at the cracks in the floor and Kaoru clenching and unclenching his fists, unsure of what to do next. The sudden drip of blood from Kojiro's elbows snapped him back to his senses.

"I think... I think you should go to the hospital. You're bleeding." Kaoru said matter of factly, trying not to look at Kojiros bloodied hands. Kojiro shook his head, sniffing. Kaoru tried again. "Maybe, can I bandage you up? As a sorry for being mean earlier." Kojiro looked up this time, his eyes surveying Kaoru’s face for insincerity.

When it seemed he found none he finally cracked a smile, a muted version of the ones he always beamed in class. "You _were_ pretty mean to me. Running into me and then calling me the b word." Kaoru fought not to flush pink. "Yeah... I'm sorry. I... I didn't know what else to say." He took a tentative step closer, glancing at the purplish sky. "Can I take you home with me? It's getting dark."

Now it was Kojiro's turn to blush, and he wiggled his eyebrows. That sounds so... wrong." He giggled, and Kaoru rolled his eyes playfully. "What are you, five? I thought you wanted me to help you fix your elbows." He paused, sensing the annoyance in his tone.

Kojiro stopped laughing and looked at him. "I know you were joking," He said softly, as if he could read Kaoru's mind. "I was joking too, it's okay. I'll call my parents and tell them I'll be home late. Or.." He started, and then smiled sheepishly. "Could you call them for me? My arms hurt a lot."

Kaoru fought against a smile and lost, taking Kojiro's phone and following the instructions to call his parents. All they needed to hear was Kojiro's voice assuring them he was safe and the both of them instructed him to call when he was ready to be picked up before blowing an embarrassing amount kisses through the phone until Kojiro snapped at Kaoru to end the call.

"They seem nice." Kaoru said quietly, hiding his smile with a cough. Kojiro huffed dramatically as Kaoru gathered the two skateboards with the other boys' black bag and the both of them made their way to Kaoru's house.

–

It was only as Kaoru let Kojiro in through the backdoor and the two of them had taken off their shoes that Kaoru actually stopped to think about what he was doing. Inviting a boy, no less a boy that he had only spoken to twice in his whole life, to his house with no parental supervision (They said they'd be back by tomorrow night). And he'd only invited someone over once in his whole life! (He refused to think about that). His heart nearly leaped from his chest as he considered the consequences.

He was also surprised at how easily Kojiro had agreed to come over. For all the other boy knew Kaoru could have brought him here to kill him. He hadn't, of course. But still.

Kojiro cleared his throat, and Kaoru looked up at him. His face in the dim light was still streaked with tears and his elbows must have numbed by now because his hands were at his sides. "Right." Kaoru breathed, "Sorry. You need to wash your hands first."

The two of them walked into the kitchen, Kojiro trailing slightly behind. Kaoru went and collected two dining chairs and put them next to the sink. Then he retrieved the first aid kit from the cupboard. Kojiro watched him hurry around in silence.

Kaoru stopped, turning around. "Wash your hands??" "Oh yeah." Kojiro turned on the tap. It didn't occur to either of them that mixing blood with dirty dishes probably wasn't for the best, but they didn't know any better.

Once Kojiro had washed the blood from his hands Kaoru sat down, turning to face him. Their knees pressed against each other's. "Let me see them." Kojiro held his arms out and winced, turning them over to look at the damage. Kaoru looked too. The wounds weren't as bad as they first looked, but the blood and pink scrapes of flesh were enough to make Kaoru feel queasy.

He quickly took off his blazer and rolled up his sleeves, sanitising his hands before pulling out an antibacterial wipe. He glanced at Kojiro to see him with his eyes screwed shut, mouth set in a grimace. He slowed his movements, gently taking one of his arms and wiping the blood away efficiently. Kojiro's arms twitched everytime the wipe made contact, but he didn't pull away.

Kaoru finished cleaning both elbows and threw the wipes in the bin under the sink, taking out a long strip of bandages. Kojiro opened one eye and suddenly his face split into a grin.

"What?" Kaoru asked, eyeing him as he started to wrap the bandage around an elbow. Kojiro bit his lip.

"I'm gonna look so cool after you've done." He finally said, his voice breaking with excitement. Kaoru stared at him for a long moment before bursting out into a fit of laughter, deftly tying off the bandage before putting his hands in front of his face to try cover his mouth.

Kojiro grinned harder and laughed himself, even louder than he usually did at school. The sounds filled the empty walls of the kitchen, the empty walls of the whole house. It was blinding.

“I'm serious y'know!" Kojiro giggled, shoving Kaoru gently with his one bandaged arm. "Could you do my hands too?" Kaoru took his glasses off and wiped the back of his hand over his eyes, still smiling despite himself. "Shut up, Kojiro."

Kojiro gave him a dirty look, feigning offence, but sat silently and smiled to himself as Kaoru got himself back together and continued to bandage him up.


	2. ...Friends?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kaoru gets his first official friend.

After Kaoru finished with the bandages Kojiro had leaned back in the chair, held out his arms and smiled. Kaoru could still remember how warm he'd felt when Kojiro had looked up and shone him a boyish grin, whispering a quiet "Thank you."

It was next day now, and Kaoru took extra time in the mirror that morning; smoothing over his uniform and staring at himself. He brushed his hair again for the third time that minute, making sure every pink strand was perfectly in place in the short ponytail he'd tied for himself. He sighed and adjusted his glasses before taking a step back.

School. In a few hours.

He wondered whether Kojiro would talk to him in class. He'd seen enough tv shows to know that he probably wouldn't. What happened outside of school stayed outside of school, especially if what happened was that the weird new kid took you home in the evening (on a school night!).

His parents had returned this morning, earlier than usual, and his mother was going to drop him off today. Kaoru knew they had a calligraphy business somewhere in the next region, but their frequent business trips plus the general feeling of stress he felt from both of them told him that something had probably gone wrong. Oh well, it didn't concern him anyway. He was good with a calligraphy brush sure, but that was because he was good with most things. Homeschooling and having no friends had left him with a lot of free time.

Friends. His mind turned back to Kojiro. They had sat in silence on those dining chairs until Kojiro's phone had buzzed, and they both quietly stifled a sigh of relief. It had been too awkward. Kaoru had watched from the doorway as Kojiro ran down the garden path and waved before he climbed into his family car. The house had been quiet, too quiet, ever since he left.

His throat was too clammed up to answer, so he grabbed his backpack and took a big deep breath.

_I'm okay_ , he reminded himself. He avoided looking at the shadows that leaped from the walls as he turned off the light and went downstairs to start the journey to school.

–

Kaoru startled as the lunch bell abruptly rang. He had been dozing off the whole day, putting a fist under his chin to avoid sprawling out over the table all together. Last night he had gone to bed later than usual, and the quiet house hadn't helped. Every dark silhouette he'd seen cast on the walls seemed to loom closer, seemed more alive. It was a wonder he'd even slept at all.

Chairs scraped backwards as the teacher left the room and conversations began to form around him, starting off slightly hushed at first but progressing into the typical 12pm noise. Friendship groups met around tables and the sound of crinkling paper bags filled the air.

Kaoru never sat with anyone, at lunch or at break. He could've, if he really wanted to. There were plenty of loners in his class, miserably picking away at their food everyday. But the thought of them wanting to become _actual_ friends after a while scared him enough to make him sit on the windowsill and eat his food by himself.

He took a bite of his apple and looked around. Kojiro, of course, was sat with all of his guy friends at the very front of the classroom, the _exclusive_ place to sit as Kaoru had been told. Sitting there made you cool, getting a personal invitation there made you even cooler. Apparently Kojiro had been invited the first day he turned up to class. Kaoru scowled to himself before taking another large bite of his apple.

Kojiro hadn't talked to him all day, and Kaoru kept pushing down his disappointment. _I won't think of him at all_ , he told himself. _If he wants to forget what happened last night then I'll do one better – I'll forget about him completely. Asshole._

Kaoru kept his eyes trained to his shoes as he finished his apple and started on his sandwich. Their lunch break was longer than he'd normally expected lunch breaks to be, one whole hour. So he still had... fifty minutes to go. Ugh.

He brought his knees up to his chest and continued to eat, glancing every so often at the back of Kojiro's head bobbing around. He was laughing, as usual, and all the boys around him were in hysterics too. The girls on the nearest tables started to turn around and soon Kojiro was saying something that had half the class dying of laughter. Kaoru plugged his ears and put his forehead to the window. Only forty five minutes left.

Soon enough the noise died down to its normal buzz and Kaoru heard the scrape of chairs being shoved aside. He turned his head to find Kojiro making his way towards him, a big grin on his face. Kaoru's heart skipped a beat.

"Heyyyy!" Kojiro said, sitting on the table next to the windowsill. His face was flushed pink and he sighed noisily, leaning back and staring at Kaoru, waiting for an answer.

Kaoru cleared his throat. "Hello. How are your elbows?"

Kojiro's eyebrows pulled together. "They stung a lot this morning, but they're fine. Thank you for mending them last night."

A fierce blush ran across Kaoru's face. "No problem."

They sat in silence, Kaoru getting sweatier by the second. He didn't even dare look around, he could already picture the scene; thirty pairs of wide eyes glued to him and Kojiro. The more he thought about it the more red he became, and he bit at his thumbnail furiously.

"Have you eaten?" Kojiro asked suddenly. Kaoru looked up slightly and remembered the half eaten sandwich sat beside him. He nodded, and Kojiro nodded back.

Kaoru gathered enough courage to look at Kojiro again, and his eyebrows raised when he noticed the other boy was blushing too, however much he tried to cover it with his wild hair – which stuck up at odd angles, as if someone had ran their fingers through it in the wrong direction.

"Your hair is messy. It looks weird." Kaoru said, speaking aloud. He slapped a hand over his mouth when he realised his mistake, but Kojiro just smiled.

"True." He ruffled it gently. It was loose, wavy and curling around his ears. He didn't have a fringe like Kaoru, instead the front framed his small chubby face in soft brackets. He suddenly shook his head violently, and his hair was messy all over again. "I don't know what to do with it though."

"Go bald."

Kojiro barked out a laugh before widening his eyes. "Wait... are you serious?"

Kaoru hadn't realised his face was so severe, so he tried a smile. "No. Unless you want to."

"Hmmm... no thank you. My dad's bald, and I can see my reflection on his head sometimes. It's scary."

Now Kaoru had to stifle his laughter. Kojiros fake haunted face broke into another wide grin, and he tucked some hair behind his ear.

"Your hair looks nice," He said, looking over Kaoru's head with faint interest. Kaoru bit his lip. He'd spent a lot of time in the mirror that morning flattening all his stray hairs, and the praise nearly made him cry with gratitude. He didn't think anyone would notice, that Kojiro would notice.

"Thank you." He coughed out, suddenly nervous again. Kojiro hummed in acknowledgment and his eyes darted to the clock on the wall. Kaoru's eyes followed. There was still twenty minutes left.

"Hey... are you gonna be at the skatepark later?" Kojiro asked suddenly, leaning forward on the table. Kaoru frowned.

"You shouldn't skate with your elbows busted up."

Kojiro sighed. "Yeah yeah I know, I wasn't gonna anyway. I asked because... well... could I see you skate?"

Kaoru felt his skin go cold. Kojiro paused for a moment and studied his face. "Can I say more?"

Kaoru nodded slightly, gnawing at his thumbnail.

"You were always watching me skate at the park and so I thought... it's only fair if I watch you for once. And I can't skate anyway because," he held up his arms. "Elbows, y'know. But I still wanna go the skatepark and do _something_ , whatever I can."

"Wh–"

"And... I'd like to see what moves you can do on a bright pink skateboard, if you can do any." Kojiro finished, a small smile playing on his lips. Kaoru narrowed his eyes, thumb still in mouth.

"Are you saying that pink is a bad colour?"

Kojiro held his hands up. "Nope, plus it matches your hair anyway. Looks kinda cool."

Kaoru smiled before he could stop himself. He wanted to say yes to Kojiro, he really did, but letting someone watch him skate was a big deal. Even his parents hasn't seen him skate in a while.

And the other thing. Kaoru still couldn't do any tricks on his skateboard. Trying them out alone and failing was one thing, trying them out and failing with someone else watching and probably trying not to laugh was a different thing altogether. The mere thought of it made Kaoru itch.

But...

"...Okay then... but only for a few minutes."

Kojiro blinked and then grinned, as if he hadn't been expecting Kaoru to agree. "Cool! See you tonight then." He said, hopping off the table and patting Kaoru's thigh. Kaoru's eyes nearly fell from their sockets.

"I-"

But before he could say anything else Kojiro had already rushed back to his friends, and the bell rang shrill to signal the end of lunch.

–

"Go faster!" Kojiro yelled as Kaoru whizzed around the park, barely dodging the bottles and plastic containers they'd both scattered around to create an obstacle course. Kaoru had never skated this fast in his life, he could hear the wind screaming in his ears and feel it pulling at his skin. It was exhilarating, and he shifted to do a full spin around his lunchbox that lay discarded on the floor.

After school he'd sprinted straight home, ripped off his blazer before grabbing his skateboard and sprinting right back out again to go down to the skatepark. Him and Kojiro hadn't arranged a time for them to meet but Kaoru knew he would feel better showing up first. He could compose himself before Kojiro showed up.

He'd ended up arriving first, much to his delight, and he closed his eyes before taking a series of deep breaths, rolling the wheels of his board under his fingers. When he opened them Kojiro was stood a few meters in front of him, head titled with a hesitant smile.

"Hi." Kaoru said.

"Hello." Kojiro replied.

Kaoru had started skating after that, avoiding the ramps so he wouldn't make a fool of himself. Kojiro watched silently at first, hands in pockets before he coughed to get the others attention.

"Why don't we make an obstacle course? With like, rubbish." He waved a hand to the overflowing bin. Kaoru made a disgusted face and stepped off his skateboard.

"Why would anyone touch rubbish?" He asked, frowning.

Kojiro frowned back. "I never said we would touch it. We can kick it."

"Kicking it still means touching it with your foot moron– sorry, that was mean."

There was a pause before Kojiro laughed. "You should hear some of the insults I've heard in class. Yours don't even compare."

Kaoru didn't know whether to be relieved or offended, but Kojiro had already stalked off towards the bin, gathering discarded bottles with his foot and kicking them towards him.

Kaoru sighed. "Where do I put them?"

"Anywhere really. As long as you can skate by them."

After a few minutes the two boys had stood back to look at their creation. It looked like a toddler had emptied the bin onto the concrete. But it would work. They'd even contributed their lunchboxes for the cause.

"Okay... lets do this." Kaoru said to himself, and he got back onto his board. At first he'd been shy, slowly skating around in basic loops and trying not to get close to the bottles and containers strewn against the concrete. But as the minutes passed he started to dimly feel that feeling again, that feeling of freeness he felt whenever he skated. It made him hold his head a little higher and increase his speed, and when Kojiro started whistling his confidence boosted even more.

He suddenly changed directions, momentarily surprised at how easy it was before picking up his pace and swerving around bottle after bottle with a new found demeanour.

Kojiro whooped and shouted praise at him all the while, sitting on the back of a bench with his phone and his own skateboard in his lap. They were the only people in the skatepark as usual, and the sky around them was swirled with purple and orange and white. Kaoru lifted his face to the dying sun and felt his heart race inside his chest.

"You did so good!" Kojiro congratulated when Kaoru eventually slowed down and jogged back towards him. Kaoru laughed breathlessly and fell onto the bench, swivelling sideways to lay flat against it. Kojiro lifted his legs to let him before opening them to stare Kaoru in the face. "That was so cool!"

Kaoru fanned his burning face. "Thank you." He panted back, before closing his eyes and placing his hand over them. "I feel dead."

"No wonder!" Kojiro lifted his feet as if to jump onto the bench before he remembered the boy laying there, and so he just lifted his arms. "At the end you were going so fast I could barely see you."

Kaoru punched him weakly on the underside of his thigh. "Shutup."

"Ow! Fine then, guess I won't show you the videos I took."

A single eye opened. "Videos? Like YouTube videos?"

"Mmmhhmm."

Kaoru wiggled downwards until he could sit upright and got on his knees. "Please! Please please please, I'm sorry I hit you! I'll never do it again." He clasped his hands together. "Pleaseeee."

Kojiro grinned so wide a dimple formed on his cheek. "Okay then."

The two of them shuffled around until they were both sat properly on the bench, Kojiro's skateboard on the floor and his phone held between them. He went to his camera roll and pressed on one of the videos.

"....Woah." Kaoru breathed as the two of them watched him go from slowly winding around the park to flying past obstacle after obstacle with ease. His hair streamed behind him like pink ribbons in the wind, whipping around his face. He looked.... cool.

"I look... cool?" He said aloud, mostly to himself, but Kojiro shifted and smiled at him.

"Definitely. At the end anyways."

Kaoru looked at him then, his chest tight. "Thank you, for recording it. I... I didn't think I could look like that while skating."

"No problem," Kojiro replied easily, looking Kaoru straight in the eye. "That's what friends are for, right?"

Kaoru startled. "...Friends?" He hadn't considered anyone a friend for... for a long time. Nobody had considered him a friend for even longer. But now Kojiro was staring at him, smiling sincerely with an eyebrow slightly raised. Friends.

"Yeah? We've hung out like twice after school now, so I think we'd count as friends. Don't you?"

There was a pause before Kaoru answered. "Yeah, I think we would."

Kojiro grinned, looking at Kaoru intently for a few seconds before jumping from the bench. "I think it'd be a good time to go home now. It's wayyy too dark."

He was right. Kaoru had been so invested in... well... skating that he hadn't noticed the colourful sunset darkening into the inky black of a winters night. He nodded and stood up. 

They both began to hurry to collect their things, and once they had managed to clean the area to an acceptable degree they grabbed their skateboards and stood in front of each other. Kaoru held his, Kojiro put his under his foot and pushed it back and forth rhythmically.

"So... I live really far back that way." Kojiro jabbed a thumb behind him. It was the opposite way to where Kaoru lived. He tried to mask his disappointment with a small shrug. He already knew that, anyway. Last night he'd sat and watched Kojiro's family car drive away until it vanished from sight.

They both stood silently for a few seconds. Kaoru fiddled with his skateboard.

"Should I send you the video?"

Ah. "Um... no. I don't have a phone yet."

Kojiro took a step forward and patted his shoulder sympathetically. "I literally had to beg for mine. I get it."

Kaoru smiled, and then he realised how close they now were. Him and Kojiro were exactly the same height, but maybe that was because of the waviness of Kojiro's hair. He'd tied up as much of it as he could into a ponytail when he'd arrived at the skatepark, but now it was lose and free around his face again. Kaoru clenched his skateboard to stop himself from reaching out to touch it.

"Well, I'll see you at school tomorrow." Kojiro said quietly, and he began to awkwardly leaned forward. Kaoru held his breath and planted his feet to stop himself from bolting off. Was he about to get his first kiss? Wasn't he too young for that? Why would Kojiro–

Oh, nevermind. Kojiro was hugging him, gently, as if Kaoru was injured and not the other way around. Hugs. Friends hugged all the time, right? And that's what they were now. Friends.

Before Kaoru could even think of reciprocating Kojiro patted his back once and stepped away, collecting his skateboard from the ground.

"Well...Bye then!" He said awkwardly, giving a little wave as he turned his back and began to walk home, leaving Kaoru frozen in place with a heavy blush on his face behind him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for the extra late update, ill try and do it quicker next time! who knew writing fan fiction could be so tiring 😭
> 
> those joe and cherry flashbacks we got in sk8 legitimately killed me. cherry with piercings??? Yes. joe just existing??? Yes. also renga canon im expecting a confession any time now 😁

**Author's Note:**

> i haven’t written and published a fan fiction in nearly three years so idk what demon possessed me to make this story lmao. ive been dying for a flashback to when matchablossom were kids in the anime and i just thought... if they’re not gonna hand it over then ill just do it myself 
> 
> if enough people like this ill try and get the next chapter out in a weeks time? idk
> 
> follow me on twitter @okumuralucard so we can cry about joe and cherry together 🙏🙏


End file.
